The Search
by babyk1nz
Summary: When Gabriella mysteriously runs away right before prom, Troy wonders where she is and if things will ever go back to the way they were before she left. Troyella.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so here is another story that I just wrote. It's pretty short but I figured I'd put it here anyways to see what people thought of it. Hopefully you like it. Again, I had to change some of the names around as they were other characters for school, but hopefully I've made all the correct changes. If not, I'm sorry. Thanks for giving it a chance!! :) -- Kay**

He looked down at the letter for the thousandth time.

"Damn…," He whispered to himself, "Why did you leave me Gabi?"

He wondered why he still kept the letter folded up neatly in the back of his dresser drawer. He had read it so many times in the past four months that it was beginning to rip at the creases. Every time he read the letter his eyes brimmed with the tears that he never let fall as he was reminded of the first time he read it. He let his mind wander back to that day.

"_Come on Brie, pick up your phone," Troy said. _

_He heard Gabriella's voice for the fourth time that morning as her voice mail answered for her once again. Troy wondered where she could be and why she wasn't picking up her phone. The previous day they finished their very last exam of high school and he took her out to celebrate. He drove her to their favorite beach to go for a walk together. They took off their shoes and felt the sand seep between their toes as the sun set into the blue ocean. They talked about some of the greatest high school moments they shared and prom, which was a few days away. Throughout the whole night she seemed distant and didn't seem nearly as excited about it as the rest of their friends. When he questioned her about it, she just said that she was tired from all the studying and it hadn't really kicked in that she was done. He drove her home and told her that he would call her the following day when she was feeling better and they could begin their summer together. She looked up at his eyes and nodded then gave him a kiss lingering for a moment longer than she normally would. He didn't think anything of it at the time; he just enjoyed the moment. _

Finally bringing his mind back to the present he felt the salt of a single tear on his lips, the first tear he had ever let out in three years.

I was so stupid that night. Why didn't I see the signs- there were so many of them. You seemed so distant the whole night; I was an absolute idiot to believe that you were only tired, he thought to himself. He reflected back on the past three years they had been together. He remembered their first kiss, their first date, and everything down to the last night they spent together. Over the years, Gabriella had become like a daughter to Troy's parents and vice versa. The two had spent all their free time together; he had even traveled with her to her cottage one summer.

Troy hadn't seen Gabriella in four months and two days now. It was October 24, Gabi was supposed to be half way through her first semester at college, and Troy was almost failing his. He could barely get his mind off her, despite the time that had passed since she ran away. He was rarely able to sleep through one night without waking up from dreaming of her. He had also lost quite a bit of weight from a loss of appetite. His high school sweetheart, of three years, had left the day after exams, with only a note to everyone left in her bedroom. He had memorized it after reading it so many times. It read:

"_To anyone and everyone that will read this and will be affected by this,_

_I'm probably going to end up regretting doing this, but I can't go on with anything else until I've solved this. It's something that I have to do. Don't worry, I promise that I'll be fine and I have planned out what I am doing. With that, please don't come looking for me – not that you would even know where to begin. I need to be on my own and close this chapter by myself. I'm a big girl now, no matter what happens I'll be okay. I'm sorry to be doing this to everyone; it will all make sense in the end. I'll be home soon and I'll be able to put all this behind me. _

_Mom – I know you'll be worried sick the moment you read this, but please, you know me and that if I go off and do something crazy like this, I know what I'm doing; I have worked it out so that I will be safe. I'll miss you mamma. Love you. _

_Taylor – Don't worry – I'm not running off to find a new best friend or anything stupid like that so just forget that thought right now. I'm sorry I didn't let you know about this, I just knew that you would tell me it wasn't a good idea, I need to do this. I'll be back in no time and I'll make up for all the missed slumber parties! Loves._

_Troy – You're the one I'm worried about leaving the most. I assure you, I'm fine. You can't worry about me because there's nothing to worry about. I know you're going to worry anyways though. The last thing I want to do is hurt you by doing this. I just hope someday you'll understand why I had to leave. I love you babe, don't ever think that I've stopped. I'll think about you every day I'm gone. We'll be together again before you know it. Smile for me. _

_I'm so, so sorry to be saying goodbye like this, but there wasn't any other way. Say bye to everyone else for me please! I'm sorry. I love all you guys so much. _

_Gabriella. Xoxo. _

That letter left everyone with so many questions. Where was she going? Why? She said that it would all make sense in the end, but when was the end? She'd been gone for over four months now, and everyone was just pretending she would be back tomorrow. She even missed her high school prom! It killed him to not know when she was coming back, where she was, if she was even still alive at this point. So many questions floated through his mind.

"Troy! Chad's on the phone!" his mom yelled, interrupting his thoughts.

Troy squeezed his eyes shut trying to make everything and everyone go away. He opened his eyes and rolled over to the other side of his bed to pick up the phone.

"Hey dude, what's up?" he asked hoping his voice wouldn't give away what he was just thinking about.

"Troy… I think you should get over here. Now," he stated bluntly.

"Chad… what's going on? Where are you?" Troy questioned sitting up.

"I'm at Tay's house. Just get your ass over here now. I'm not joking; you need to come right away."

"Okay, I'm on my way. See you in five," he hung up before Chad could get another word in.

Troy wondered what could possibly be so important that he needed to get to Taylor's right away. Couldn't Taylor deal with whatever it was Chad was freaking out about this time? Obviously not….

He got up off his bed and grabbed the keys off his bedside table next to his favorite picture. He paused for a moment looking at the picture of the two of them together before jumping back to reality, and dashing out his door. He went down the stairs, called out to his mom that he was heading out and wouldn't be home for dinner.

He walked out the front door to his truck before sliding the key into the ignition. He pulled out of his driveway and was pulling into Taylor's driveway five minutes later. Before he could even get to the front door, Chad was already opening up the door, stepping outside. He closed the door behind him and told him to sit down on one of the green chairs on the front porch. The two guys went and sat down; Chad just stared out in front of him for a few moments not saying a word. Troy had no idea what was going on but he knew not to question Chad before he was ready to talk. Finally he opened his mouth to explain himself.

"I called you over to Tay's for a reason. There's a surprise inside but it's going to be a shock to you and I needed to warn you about it first. You have to swear you'll stay calm," he said.

"Okay… can we go see whatever this is now?" Troy questioned.

"If you're ready," Chad answered, getting out of his chair.

The two guys walked through the door, Troy didn't see anything different. Tay's house still looked exactly the same. Same yellow entrance, same blue and black modern kitchen to the left, same stairs going upstairs and down in front of them, same rustic family room to the right. Chad led him down the stairs and Troy looked at all the same vibrant pictures on the wall. He wondered where this was going. They finally got to the bottom of the stair and looked around. There was nothing different or shocking as Chad had said there would be.

"Chad what's going on? Everything is still-" Troy was cut off by a female voice he knew all too well.

"Hey Tay you don't have any-" She stopped in mid sentence when she saw two new figures standing in front of her.

Troy froze in his place, praying that he wasn't hallucinating. He stood in the same spot staring at the beige leather couch in front of him, not able to turn around. He was too afraid that his mind was playing tricks on him again but it really did sound like her this time, he couldn't deny that. Slowly he turned to the right to see Chad, who looked at him and nodded. He turned all the way around and saw the figure he had been praying to see for so long. He slowly made his way over to where she stood, unable to really believe that she was real. He slowly looked up and saw tears shining in her beautiful brown eyes instantly realizing it was her. She was really back after all this time. His Gabriella had finally come home to him.

"Gabi…," he whispered barely audible.

"Oh Troy," she said just as quietly.

They both stepped forward at the same time, closing the small gap between them, as Troy engulfed her into a hug. He didn't care why she was gone or what she had left for; the only thing that mattered was that she was home in his arms again.

They stood holding each other for nearly ten minutes, when Chad and Taylor finally reminded them that they weren't alone. They broke apart, staring into each other's eyes for a few seconds before they finally walked over to the couch. Taylor started talking about what Gabriella had missed in the past four months she was gone. Troy didn't add in the conversation, he just sat paralyzed on the couch staring at his Brie. She was really back. He just couldn't believe that she was really here after all this time. He hoped this wasn't a dream that he would wake up from in a few minutes; he needed it to be real.

"Troy… hello? Anyone there?" Gabriella waved her hand in front of his face.

"Sorry, must have zoned out there. What were you saying?" he asked.

"Do you want to head out of here? Maybe we can go somewhere and talk?" she questioned.

"Yes, I know just where to go." he replied, with a small smile.

The two got up from the couch; Gabriella hugged Chad and Taylor before they headed out. They walked in silence as they made their way out to Troy's truck. Neither of them knew what to say to each other. Gabriella wondered if Troy was upset after she left the way that she did. She hoped he would be able to forgive her for hurting him. She doubted he would ever want to talk to her after this. While these thoughts ran through her head, Troy was consumed by his thoughts as well. His mind spun with questions. Where had she gone? When did she get back? What was going to happen with them now? What was he supposed to say to her after everything that she'd missed?

He walked over to the truck next to her, subconsciously opening the door for her, the way he always used to. She gave a small smile and got in quickly, while he ran to the other side. He pulled out of Taylor's driveway and a few minutes later they were pulling into a very familiar parking lot. They both jumped out of the truck and walked together to the park, at her favorite beach. They each took a seat on one of the swings and sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Do you remember when we came here last?" she ventured.

"Yes, I brought you here the night we both finished our last exam. The last night I saw you before…," he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"Why did you bring me back here now?" she questioned.

"This is your favorite beach. I figured you hadn't been back here yet and you might want to see it again. When did you get back anyways?" he asked.

"I came in on the 12:30 bus. I called Taylor to come pick me up at the bus terminal and I was over at her house for a few hours before Chad called you," she answered

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I… Troy… I just wasn't…" Gabriella stuttered.

"It's okay. I get it Brie, I guess after the way you left and all the time you were away never calling once should have given it away," he said.

"Troy, I wanted to call I really did but I figured you would just tell me to come home and I needed to go away. I needed to find something."

"Brie, you don't understand how I felt when I read that letter. I thought I was going to die. For four months I wondered where my Gabi was and why she left me. I didn't even know if you were alive!" he cried.

"I'm sorry that I made you feel that way, I really am. I know I messed up some things but I'm back now. I'm not going away again… it was a waste of my time and effort anyways," her voice cracked at the end of the sentence.

"So what does that mean? That after all this time everything is just going to go back to normal?" he questioned.

"I thought maybe we would be able to get past this," she whispered.

"Gabi, how can you expect everything to go back to the way it was before you left? You tore me apart when you left. I felt like I had no other reason to go on when you were gone. You were my girlfriend, my best friend, my entire world for three years. You just walked away from everything we had without bothering to tell me why. I mean, you missed prom! You missed our entire summer before college; we were supposed to be together. I wasn't supposed to be wondering if you were alive every day!" he yelled.

Gabriella saw the pain in his eyes and knew how much she hurt him. She wished more than ever that she had never left.  
"I'm sorry. I am so sorry," she began to break down in tears. "I hope someday you'll be able to forgive me."

She got up from her swing and began to run. Troy was so shocked by her reaction he merely sat still in his swing thinking about what just happened. He knew that his words had been too harsh; he really did want to go back to the way things were before she left. He just didn't know how they would be able to do that. She had hurt him so much when she took off without saying goodbye. He wanted to understand where she went and why. He looked down at his feet and realized for the first time since she left that maybe they would never be able to go back to the way things were before.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriella was so mad at herself for hurting Troy she couldn't stop the tears from coming. She didn't want him to see her like that, so she just ran. After she got up from the swing, she knew of only one place she could go: home. She hadn't seen her mom yet. As soon as she got far enough away from the park, she began to slow down and walk. She finally arrived on the front step of her house and tried to open the door. It was locked. She didn't have a key with her, but she looked where she used to keep a spare key under the door mat and was lucky. She unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was nice to finally be home, where she belonged. Tears were still streaming down her face as she headed up to her room. She opened her door and noticed that everything was exactly the way she left it. She walked over to her bed, pulled the covers back and climbed in. It felt good to be back in her own bed after all this time. She wrapped herself up in the soft blankets and quickly fell in to a soft slumber.

She woke up a few hours later to the sound of movement downstairs. Realizing that this meant that her mother was home, she quickly pushed back the warm covers. She quietly descended the stairs and peeked around the corner to see her mother putting away groceries.

"Mamma?"

Her mother dropped the tin of salmon she was holding and turned around to see her daughter standing in the doorway.

"Gabriella! You're back! Oh my darling where have you been, you had me worried sick!" she cried, flinging her arms around her daughter.

"I'm home mamma. It's okay now. You don't have to worry anymore; I'm home," she said as she began to cry again.

"What took you so long to get back from New York; I've been waiting for nearly a month," her mother blurted out.

"How… how did you know that I went to New York? I didn't even know I was going to New York," Gabriella stated.

"After you left your father's, he called me. He figured that I would be worried about you so he called to let me know you were safe and what you had gone up to do."

"Well, it was something that I needed to do. I needed to find him and find out why he just left me, and left you alone to take care of me. I wanted to know why he never made any effort to see me or have any contact with me for eighteen years. I know that you never liked to talk about him and I felt like I just needed to hear those things from him. I wish I had never gone though. I wish I had never laid eyes on that stupid bastard. He'll never be my father. And on top of that I've ruined everything with Troy!" she cried.

"Shhh, darling, it will be okay. Troy will forgive you for doing this. You just need to explain to him why you left. We talked quite a bit after you left, and he still cares very deeply for you. He was just so worried about you while you were gone and he couldn't understand why you didn't say goodbye. He still wants to make it work though; he loves you with all of his heart," her mother replied.

"You didn't see the look in his eyes this afternoon mamma he was so hurt. I'm not sure if he'll ever forgive me."

"You saw Troy already? Well, he was probably just shocked. Give him some time to realize that you're back. Then you need to go, explain why you left and make things right for the both of you," her mother stated.

The two continued to catch up for a few more hours. They spent the entire night talking and watching movies together before they went upstairs, saying goodnight to each other.

Gabriella tried desperately not to think about Troy but as more time passed she found it impossible. Both her mother and Taylor had encouraged her to go and explain everything to him, but she was so afraid of him slamming the door in her face, she stayed away. Every night since she'd been home she had multiple nightmares about him turning away from her; she was just too afraid that he would truly feel that way. Instead she spent the next few days with her mother and Taylor, trying to make up for lost time. She slept over at Taylor's house three days after she came home in an attempt to keep her promise to make up for missed slumber parties. The girls hardly got any sleep that night or the following day, so by the time Gabriella returned to her own house, she was exhausted. She crashed in her own bed at 6:30pm and slept through the whole night.

The following morning Gabriella woke up to a wonderful smell of bacon wafting through her room. She walked down the cold stairs and sat on one of the cushioned breakfast stools while she ate breakfast with her mother. She went up to have a shower, get cleaned up and told her mom she was going out for a walk.

She walked all around the familiar town, smelling the familiar ocean smell that she had missed while she was gone. After walking around for just over half an hour, she finally decided she needed to try and fix things with Troy. As she walked up his driveway she noticed that his truck was parked in his normal spot in the driveway. She walked up to his door and took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. The door opened to reveal Troy's mom who squealed when she saw Gabriella.

"Gabriella! Oh my, you're back!"

"Yes, I sure am. Would Troy be around? I need to talk to him," she asked.

"Of course, I'll go grab him for you. Come in!" she said as she ran off to get Troy.

Gabriella looked around the house she used to know so well. It still smelt the same, like there was always a fresh batch of cookies in the oven. She smiled when she saw Troy coming down the stairs following him mom.

"Do you kids want some cookies? They'll be coming out of the oven in just a minute," Troy's mom asked sweetly.

Gabriella nodded as she yelled a goodbye to Troy's mother and made a promise to come back again soon.

As soon as they closed the door behind them Gabriella turned to Troy.

"Do you have a while to talk, because if you'll let me I'd like to explain to you why I left."

"Yeah, I'd like to hear about it. Where should we go?" Troy asked.

"We can just take a walk. We don't need to go anywhere," she replied.

"Okay. And I'm sorry that I got so upset like that before, it's just-"

"Troy, will you just let me talk for now? You don't have to apologize. You had every right to be upset with me after I left. But just let me talk for a bit okay?"

"Okay," he nodded.

"Well first off, I left to find my dad. He's never been around, never called on a birthday, I'd never even talked to him before I left. My mom hated talking about him too. Whenever I asked her something about him she would tell me that I shouldn't think about him because we didn't need him in out lives and then she'd change the subject. I needed to know who he was. Mostly though, I wanted to know why he left my mom alone to take care of me. I'm sorry I didn't confide in you I just didn't tell anyone because I thought everyone would tell me that it would be a waste of my time, I wouldn't find him or if I did I would just end up hurt. I always thought about him and it wasn't going to stop until I met him and had some questions answered. That's why I didn't tell anyone where I was going. It's why I didn't call too, because after I left I was scared that everyone would just try to make me come back home. After a while I thought that if I called, you would just hang up on me. I'm really sorry that I ever left in the first place. It was worse than I feared it would be with my dad, but like I said I needed to meet him."

"I'm sorry Gabi, that couldn't have been easy to go through alone."

"No, it wasn't. But the worst part was actually meeting him, and actually getting the answers that I was looking for," she whispered.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Troy said gently.

"Oh, it was awful Troy. It took me so long to find him. I finally did and I went to meet him in New York City. When I got to his house, he told me that I could come in for a few minutes but that he was very busy. It's like he didn't even have enough time for his own daughter. But I went in and we started talking," she turned towards the park where she sat down on a bench, overlooking the ocean. Troy sat down beside her, looked to her and saw that she had tears streaming down her face. He slipped his arm around her as she began to speak again.

"He told me that when he found out my mom was pregnant he made it clear that he had plans for his life and he wasn't going to let me get in the way. He told her that he would give her the money to have an abortion, but she wouldn't hear of it. So he told her that she was on her own. He left three days later and never looked back. He never regretted leaving my mom alone with a baby because he had offered to pay for the abortion. He said that I was the biggest mistake of his life. We were talking for hardly ten minutes, then he told me that I needed to see myself out because he had work to do. After that I realized why my mom never liked to talk about him. I left to come back home that night. I had found what I was looking for and regretted it more than ever. I was so mad at myself following that night for leaving you," she explained.

"Oh Brie, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I wish I could have helped you. Baby girl, you are the strongest person I have ever met, and you know that you don't need an ass like that in your life. You and your mom have done just fine without him, and you'll do just as well from here on out. I'll make sure of that… if you let me."

Gabriella looked up into his gorgeous sapphire eyes and could see her own chocolate brown ones reflecting in them. It had been too long since she'd seen those eyes.

"Do you really mean that? You still want to be with me after everything?"

"Gabi, I never stopped. In my mind you were still my girl, even while you were gone. I was upset, hurt and scared, but it didn't make me love you any less," he stated.

"Thanks Troy. I love you too. I don't know how I got so lucky with you; I was so afraid that you would hate me after I came home," she whispered.

The next few weeks went by quickly. Gabriella was going to begin college in January. Troy was able to work hard in all of his classes and had increased his grades remarkably. Gabriella had gotten together with her friends that stayed close to home for college and she was able to catch up on everything that she missed. Soon it was Thanksgiving. All their friends who went away for college came home. The whole gang got together for the first time since Gabriella left. It was a perfect night for everyone. After everyone left Troy's house, he and Gabriella began to clean up. When they were finished he walked her home. They stood outside on her doorstep holding each other close.

"You know, you were right Troy," Gabriella said.

"About what Gabi?"

"You told me that I was going to do just fine without my dad around and that you would make sure of it. You were right. I don't need him in my life, I never have. After I came back I wondered if we would ever be able to go back to the way things were before. I know now that we won't… because now it's so much better," she said smiling.

They said a quick goodbye and each went their own ways both thinking the same thing. That life where they both were was perfect just the way it was now.


End file.
